


Tiger Stripes

by lunaseemoony



Series: Foundations [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Time Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:36:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6827989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fretting over her physical scars helps Rose momentarily forget about the ones beneath the surface. Meanwhile the Doctor does his best to help her with both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tiger Stripes

**Author's Note:**

> For timepetalsprompts ficlet prompt ‘scars.” This is kid!fic. Takes place directly before Incoming Tide from the Foundations ‘verse. Reading it might help this make sense.

“Daaaaaddy I wanna go!” Alina whined and hugged the Doctor’s legs (as if barring him from moving would somehow enable him to move faster).

He peeled Alina off his leg and plopped her on the jump seat. Tightly wound bundles of energy were already making her toddler legs squirm and eliciting growls and groans of impatience from her throat. Yet her attention was fixed on the console, mentally calibrating and setting coordinates well ahead of him. His little lioness was ever the engineer, watching him like a hawk. She might’ve been able to take the TARDIS somewhere if she wasn’t so protective of Alina.

“We will, soon as your mum’s ready like I told you two minutes ago.”

Was he like this before their little Time Lady joined them in their travels? Chuffing impatiently and pacing about the console room like a tiger in his cage (so much for getting her to sit down)?

“Gonna check on mummy!” Alina declared while marching towards the corridor eventually leading to their bedroom.

The Doctor darted in front of her and grinned. “No, no you're not. I’ll go see about mummy. You...” he shoved his hand through his hair and hummed. “Guard the jump seat!”

He was fairly certain a little girl barely potty trained shouldn’t be able to roll her eyes. Her surname was a good reminder that it was perfectly possible. He shuddered to think what she might be like in ten years’ time. At any rate, a cocktail of concern and curiosity propelled him down the coral corridor towards their bedroom.

Rose was a grimacing statue in front of their mirror, silently cursing it or herself, likely for some flaw in her swimsuit that was invisible to his eyes, if it even existed. A cheeky smile tucked at the corner of his mouth at the notion that he wore rose-colored glasses for her. She wore a bright blue bikini, the color of the sky on a clear day, and her pale golden hair was the sun. Call him corny, cheesy, a marshmallow even if you like. But she always exemplified perfection in female form no matter what she did. Unlike their baby girl he only had her for so long. He couldn’t help admiring her for all she was for however long he had her.

“Don’t suppose you could get rid of these?” Rose sighed at his reflection in the mirror.

The Doctor glided across the room and cupped her deliciously bare shoulders. “Hmm, a bit later when Alina’s asleep, yes.” He slid his hands down her arms and caught one of her bikini straps in his teeth. “I’d love to.”

He knew Rose was doing her best to lift her mood but his lighthearted humor didn’t even yield an eye roll. The moment his lips met her shoulder her anxiety and heavy heart drifted into his consciousness like storm clouds on the horizon. She was talking about her outfit but her mind was miles away. Fretting over what was on the surface helped her cope, and he wouldn’t rob her of it.

“I’m talking about these, Doctor.” She gestured at rows of pink stripes on her abdomen, ones that she liked to pretend didn’t exist on a normal day. Today wasn’t a normal day. Today was the day they promised one another they’d put their best feet forward for Alina. The grimace returned to her face as she identified the offending marks. “The stretchmarks.”

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her other shoulder before answering, pouting his lips in mock contemplation. “I could. Pop into the infirmary and it should be a quick job.” He pulled her hands away from covering them and smiled. “Aww but Rose I like them.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I am! They’re cute. I like them.”

She chuffed, much in the same fashion her daughter had a moment ago. “You’re only saying that.”

“No, I mean it. They’re like little tiger stripes.” Their bond had him correcting his line of speech as he spoke, feeling her groan before it could pass her lips. “They’re a mark of your strength Rose. Think I could’ve carried Alina for nine months and endured what you did? You never gave up, not once.” She opened her mouth. The thought except recently was nearly on her breath. “You’re the strongest person I know, Rose.” He pecked her cheek and drank in her quivering sigh of acceptance. He straightened up and smiled. “And anyway, you’ve worked hard to fit into this gorgeous thing.” His pals rested on her tiger stripes while he shamelessly let his less pure line of thoughts stream her way, admiring the entire display of perfection before him. Her blush was a balm for his worries. “You gonna let these keep you from enjoying it? Hmm?”

Rose smiled and sniffed. A cocky grin was blooming on his face.

“Mummy looks pretty!” his little lioness chirped.

Figures she’d only be able to wait in the console room for a minute. She hugged Rose’s legs and beamed up at her, the purity of toddlerhood coating her words in the truth. Rose scooped her up and settled her on her hip.

“Thanks darling.”

“Daddy, Mummy’s ready,” Alina decided. “Can we go now?”

He looked to Rose, who fashioned a soft smile and nodded. “Course darling. Let’s go the beach.”


End file.
